Meet Max
by madame.alexandra
Summary: Jaina and Noura meet their new baby brother. H/L; Identity ;verse.


a/n: ahem...this took so long to appear because i forgot my own pattern. i forgot to write it. damn, y'all.

* * *

**_Meet Max_**

* * *

Max Antilles Solo was a lucky baby in many ways. He was lucky, of course, because he had parents who loved him, and a whole slew of extended family to support him and fawn over him. He had a home, he already had a pet, he'd have good schools and privileged opportunities and people who would be careful to make sure he never let that go to his head. He was lucky, perhaps most importantly, because he was the third baby to join the Solo family - the youngest, the last - and his parents were both old pros at taking care of infants. Gone were any of the nerves and anxiety that had accompanied their experience with Jaina, and gone were the jitters they'd had when they'd worried about how they would handle two children when they first brought Noura home.

Yes, Max was lucky. He was lucky, and he was cherished, and he was also fast asleep, and completely unaware of his situation. He slept soundly in his carrier, which Han had slung over his forearm with practiced care as he stood outside the door of their penthouse apartment, quietly enjoying a moment of peace. Leia and the baby were newly out of the Med Centre, both healthy and refreshed, Leia herself relieved to be home, and eager to see her daughters.

It had been a blessing to stay a few extra days in the Med Centre while Max underwent some additional neurological tests - due to Leia's instincts about his ears. She gleaned a little extra recovery time since she'd had the tubal ligation procedure right after he was born. She'd been able to stock up on sleep and take a break from the rigors of motherhood, but she was ready to be home with the girls, even if she knew it meant absolute chaos, and the return of that particular type of exhaustion that came with having two - no, now _three_ \- children under five.

On the other side of the door, Chewbacca waited with Jaina and Noura, all primed and ready to introduce them to their baby brother. It had definitely been a good idea, Leia thought, to forgo bringing them to the Med Centre and just save the first meeting for the privacy and comfort of their own home. It was a hassle to drag a bunch of little children to public places for just a quick visit, anyway.

"You think Jaina's come around?" Han joked, eyeing the closed door with amusement.

Their poor, long-suffering eldest had certainly come to love Noura, but had been alternately enraged, and then apathetic, at the idea of yet _another_ baby invading her space.

Leia snorted.

"The real question is...have _we_ come around?" she quipped.

After all, Max had been unplanned, badly timed, and basically a whirlwind - there had barely been a gap of four months between Noura's birth and Max's conception, and in Leia's maternally exhausted mind, what with the so-called fourth trimester blending into another first trimester, she essentially felt as if she'd been pregnant for twenty straight months.

Han grinned at her, and she smiled back contently - it was a tongue-in-cheek comment of course, a little jest between the two of them. Of course they had come around; both of them had nothing but love to direct towards Max. He was unexpected, but they had wanted three, and this just meant some readjustments that had positive sides among all the stress and mayhem: namely, that there was no sense of going _back_ to the harrowing beginning as there had been when Noura was born and Jaina was well out of diapers and bursting with toddler energy. Leia was still already in nursing and newborn mode - and since Max and Noura were so close in age, they'd also be out of the most trying ages at roughly the same time.

That was a bright side. Her favorite one. She was already ambitiously planning - perhaps, if Max was precocious enough, with a little encouragement from the Force, she could sani-train them at the _same_ time...

"Sweetheart?" Han asked, cocking a brow. "You ready?"

She blinked, and tilted her head up at him. She smirked, and nodded, reaching forward to press her palm to the access scanner. It lit up lazily in its welcoming blue glow, and the door slid open. As they stepped over the threshold, Leia heard the soft, soothing rumbles of Chewbacca talking to the children, and a symphony of amused giggles as Jaina and Noura laughed at him. Jaina understood Chewbacca easily; Noura wasn't as good yet, but Noura was barely a year old, and was bombarded with at least three languages on a regular basis; it was normal for her to be behind the curve. Learning to understand multiple languages sometimes delayed speech, but in the long run, it was far better that they learn very young to pick up more than just Basic.

As the door shut behind them, Han suddenly came to a stop. His brow furrowed and he frowned.

"Wait, what if they wake him up?" he asked, looking down at the sleeping baby.

Leia laughed.

"They are _going_ to wake him up," she said firmly.

"Damn," Han muttered. "Maybe we shoulda kept him awake in the speeder."

"Oh, Han," Leia sighed, clicking her tongue. "You should know by now that babies only sleep when you _don't_ want them to."

He grumbled, grinned, and then started walking again, striding towards their living room. Leia heard Chewbacca rumble a cheerful warning to the girls: _your parents are home! _A moment later, right as Han and Leia were about to round the corner, Jaina's little face peeked around the wall and she stared at them, her eyes hurriedly flicking down to Max's carrier. She looked up at Han and Leia almost suspiciously, then whipped around and scampered back into the living room, which made Han grin even harder.

"Couldn't read that expression," he snorted, nodding after her.

Leia gave a good-natured sigh.

"I suppose we will find out," she murmured.

They both turned the corner. Han stepped up and placed the baby's carrier on the floor, its cover pushed back, Max turned towards the girls. Leia maintained a strong thread to the baby's emotions, though for now, he remained in a deep, peaceful sleep. He seemed to be a very good sleeper - then again, he wasn't even a week old, so that could change drastically in the next few months.

Chewbacca rose to his knees. He always made himself as small as he could when meeting new babies or small children, though neither Jaina nor Noura had ever expressed any fear of him. He cocked his head eagerly, always fascinated by a new member of the family. It was _highly_ unusual for Wookiees to ever have more than one youngling. That Leia had _three_ in five years amazed him - even stressed him out. He seemed to think her body was going to give up. She kept having to remind him that having multiple children was relatively normal for humans, and human babies weren't as big as Wookiee cubs.

Han folded his arms proudly, standing protectively next to the carrier. Leia stepped forward and knelt next to it, her eyes fixed calmly on the girls. To her amusement, Jaina was dragging Noura forward, half-walking her, half-hauling her, a very determined, business-like look one her face. Her nose scrunched as she poked and prodded her sister and Noura, generally patient and glad of the attention, ambled along, enjoying the manhandling.

"Nor, look, _baby_," she said, gently shoving Noura forward. "Baby Max," Jaina added, without prompting.

Leia tilted her head, watching. She briefly flicked her eyes at Han, but neither of them intervened. It seemed like...Jaina _vividly_ remembered being introduced to Noura.

Noura leaned against Jaina and plucked at her shirt absently, peering down at Max. She pointed at him, then wiggled her fingers, and Jaina nodded.

"Say hi," she agreed. She waved, too. "Hi, baby," she said, half-greeting, half-instruction.

"Oh," Noura said. "Hi," she repeated shyly.

"Okay," Jaina said, shrugging. "Now he cry all the time," she informed Noura, lowering her hand. "That is all."

Han laughed. Noura toddled a few more steps forward and crouched down, staring into the carrier.

"Jaina's right, Noura," Leia began softly, rocking Max's carrier slightly. "This is baby Max. He's your brother," she introduced. "He's brand new. But he's very lucky because he gets Jaina _and_ you to be his big sisters and help him learn how to be a person."

"He live here now," Jaina sighed dramatically. "No take backs," she informed Noura gloomily.

Han snorted.

"No take backs," he agreed. "You got used to Nor though, didn't you, Jainy?" he asked gently. "You wouldn't want us to take her back."

Jaina looked at him, squinting.

"Ummm," she drawled. "Not _today_."

Han rolled his eyes. He stepped forward towards Chewie, and the Wookiee pulled him into a crushing, congratulatory hug, warbling well-wishes and congratulations.

"Yeah, pal, thanks," Han said gruffly, dodging away and smoothing his hair sheepishly. He flashed a proud smile. "And hey, you c'n stop worry'n about Leia!" he added, snorting. "They fixed her."

"Han," Leia said, glaring. "Stop calling it that."

_[Fixed?]_

Han adopted a serious look. He held up his hands.

"Yeah, they cut her open, and set some of her parts on _fire_, buddy - "

"_Han_," Leia growled. She flushed, and gave Chewbacca a dignified shake of the head. "I've had a sterilization procedure," she said. "No more cubs."

Chewbacca put a hand to his heart, and bowed his head.

_[I love all of your cubs, but I am glad you will have peace now,]_ he said warmly.

He then shot Han a dark, accusing look, and Leia bit her lip. Han flung out his hand at Chewbacca, giving Leia an incredulous shake of the head.

"Why won't he believe you had a say in this?" he demanded.

Leia ignored him, amused. She turned back to the girls, watching Noura. She still crouched, observing Max, and when she felt Leia watching her, she looked up. She extended her hand, wiggling her fingers, and widened her eyes.

"You can touch him," Leia said. She took Noura's hand, and placed it very lightly on Max's foot. The baby twitched comfortably, but didn't wake. "He's warm. He's very cuddly," she said. "When he wakes up, we can take him out and you can sit with me or with Daddy and help hold him."

Noura smiled happily. She lifted her hand off his foot, and pointed.

"Baby," she said clearly.

Han looked down, his brows going up.

"Yeah, baby!" he agreed. "New word! Good job, Noury!"

Noura glowed. Jaina crowded closer, sidling up to Leia and putting her hands over her hips. She towered over the carrier, studying her brother, and then made a thoughtful humming noise.

"He not crying," she said. "I like him."

"Don't get used to it," Han snorted.

"Where he lives?" Jaina asked.

"He'll sleep in the cradle in our room for a little while," Leia answered. "He's very little, so that makes it easier to feed him and still get some sleep."

Han frowned, looking around. He scratched the back of his head.

"Where's Zo?" he grunted, confused.

Typically, the little guy would come darting around, bouncing around ankles, eager to welcome them home. He was always good with new babies, too, especially since he was so used to it now. He'd licked Jaina right in the face the first time he met her, but it was a harmless expression of excitement, and he had learned not to do that with Noura.

_[He is asleep in the sunshine, out on the balcony,]_ Chewbacca answered. _[He is a very patient domestic pet, but,] _Chewbacca trailed off, certainly indicating that Jaina and Noura had been pestering the mooka within an inch of his capacity to put up with it. _[Would you like me to let him in?]_

"Leave 'im in peace a little longer," Han snorted, shaking his head. He folded his arms and stood next to Chewie, watching Leia with the girls. A familiar feeling of pride and contentment washed over him, and after a moment, he reached out to slap Chewie on the back. He said nothing, but his old friend understood the gesture for what it was - a nonverbal way to convey how fortunate he felt; how _good_ this was.

Jaina reached forward and very gently rocked Max's carrier, as she'd seen Leia do. This time, the movement cause him to stir, and he slowly opened his eyes, blinking in that unfocused way infants had. He kicked his feet, and Noura fell back onto her bottom, her face suddenly stretching into a comical mask of shock. She gave a little gasp, and her lip trembled, apparently frightened by the sudden movements.

"Noura," Leia soothed, trying to suppress a laugh. "It's okay. He woke up, that's all."

Noura pouted, and pointed accusingly at Max's foot.

"She think he kick her. At her. Kick her," Jaina explained. She giggled. "No, no, no, Nor, you do that, too, you just," she flopped onto her back and waved her arms and legs around jerkily, imitating the instinctive, squirmy movements of new infants, mimicking what she'd already seen Noura, and Marisol, and quite a few other babies do.

Han started laughing, and Jaina rolled onto her stomach smugly and looked up at him, delighted to have gotten such a reaction. Leia smiled, nodding at Noura.

"She's right, babe," she promised. "He's just very wiggly."

She looked up at Chewie.

"You want to hold him?" she asked.

Chewbacca nodded, pleased, and Leia reached in to unbuckle Max. She lifted him out, and then started to stand, but Han waved her off, and instead came over to reach down and take the baby from her so she wouldn't have to heave herself up. Leia nodded gratefully - as these things went, she was still incredibly sore; Max's birth hadn't exactly been easy, and she was aching more than usual. More than she remembered. Han handed Max over to Chewie with little fanfare, wholly trusting, and Chewbacca settled the baby in the crook of his arm, big shaggy head looking down at him in awe.

Leia suppressed a soft giggle. She never got over how incongruous a tiny newborn human looked when snuggled into the crook of that massive furry elbow. It was such a sweet thing, and she really believed that there was absolutely no one - besides herself and Han - who could be as trusted as Chewbacca was with their babies. Han, too, eyed the sight with affection for a moment, and Max vocalized with soft, curious sounds, soothed through his connection to Leia as she bonded him to Chewie.

Han then turned, clapped his hands softly, and knelt down between Jaina and Noura.

"Okay, _ladies_," he said formally, looking at one, and then the other. "Noury, I know you're new to this, so you're gonna take Jainy's lead," he said, clearing his throat and arching a brow at Jaina. "What do we do for Mommy when she brings home a new baby?" he asked.

Jaina jumped, a smug look crossing her face - she absolutely _loved_ knowing the answer to questions.

"Big cozy bubble bath!" she announced, nodding. "And sleep, sleep sleep, no waking up," she repeated, "unless Nor need food." She paused, and then corrected herself: "Unless Max need food!"

Han nodded solemnly, though he didn't point out that Noura was still nursing quite a lot, too. That was likely to change as the weeks went on - Leia hadn't decided yet, and kept wavering, but Han had a feeling she'd go ahead and wean Noura. It seemed like the sane thing to do, if she asked _him._

"You think you can handle turning the water on?" he asked Jaina.

She nodded vigorously.

"_Hoooo_, I dunno," Han drawled, eyeing her skeptically. "You have to show me. You gotta help me put bubbles in, too," he said.

Jaina leapt away, darting towards the stairs, and Han grinned. He gathered Noura into his arms, hoisting her on his hip, and stood, watching Jaina sprint up the stairs.

"Right behind you!" he called.

Jaina gave a squeal, and hustled faster. Han extended a hand to help Leia off the floor, and she accepted it gratefully. She rose up to kiss Noura on the cheek, and smiled, already eagerly anticipating that long, hot bath - a tradition that had held since Jaina was born. There was a dull _thonk!_ noise from upstairs, and Leia cocked her head, amused.

"You better catch up to her quick," she advised.

Han snorted, and waited a moment, running his hand up and down her arm. He studied her, silently making sure she was okay, and then nodded. He stepped to the side, kissed the top of Max's head, and carried off Noura gallantly, all the while narrating the journey with adorable, dramatic flare, stalking after Jaina on his determined mission. Leia stepped closer to Chewbacca, stroking the sparse hair on her son's head as he lay contently in the Wookiee's arms, and she leaned heavily into Chewie's side, immersing herself into the feeling of being home, and the relief of having the introduction of a new baby over and done with.

* * *

There was a calm, nostalgic sense of finality to settling Max down in the cradle beside the bed. Snuggled in the beautiful carved wood with only the soft, comfortable lining pad - he was too little for blankets or stuffed animals or pillows - Max looked right at home, right where he belonged. He was a very still, quiet sleeper thus far, and lay on his back with his arms splayed out to the side.

Han had nudged the cradle as close as he possibly could to Leia's side of the bed, so she could easily roll over and lift him out when he woke up and needed to nurse. It was the same thing they'd done for Jaina, and for Noura - it was the same _cradle_ that had been made for Jaina, and used by Noura - and as Han gingerly, very gingerly, drew his hands away from the baby and stepped back, the cradle rocked just so. Max made not a sound, and Leia watched Han watch him, sure that identical things were running through his mind.

There was a familiarity to this, a comfortable routine; they came home, they had a place for the new baby, they fell into their roles and their element easily. It was so very different from when they had brought Jaina home, and they'd both been full of overwhelming jitters and apprehension, afraid to go to sleep even though they were tired. When all of the attention from relatives had died down and they'd settled in to their first night home alone with Jaina, they'd felt directionless and uncertain, positive that they could do nothing but watch the baby even if the baby was just sleeping, and they'd sat in bed, watching the cradle, completely baffled by their new reality.

But now they were veterans. Now they _knew._ They had two templates to compare Max's babyhood with, and they had easy confidence in their own ability to meet his needs and keep him alive. Putting him to sleep in the cradle was just a routine matter of how they did things; it was easy, it was right. And it was bittersweet, perhaps because Leia could so vividly remember all of the whirling emotions that had come along with new baby Jaina, coupled with the future sprawling out before them, and now, _now..._

...there was just so much peace, so much equilibrium. Max was her last baby, and there was a dichotomy to that. She felt driven to cherish his babyhood and value every day, because despite the difficulties, she would probably miss the tininess. She'd miss the toddlers when they weren't toddlers anymore, and so on - but on the other side of that emotion was a swelling excitement, a relief, of knowing she'd never wade through morning sickness and swollen feet and all the rest of it ever again. When Max was weaned, she'd finally own her body again. It would be hers, wholly hers, for the rest of her life - and when Max was walking, when Max was in school, when Max was - she stopped, biting her lip, shaking her head.

No, she wasn't going to get ahead of herself, or rush it, or wish it away. That wasn't how she felt at all. Yet there was a dawning vitality about having her last baby, about knowing that from now on it was just forward, forward, forward; growing up, and never having to start back over. There was something invigorating about that.

"You really think his ear is all messed up?" Han asked quietly, cocking his head as he looked down at his son.

"I know it is," Leia said, leaning over.

She was already in bed, laid up against pillows and clad in a loose, soft shirt that gave her easy access to her breasts. She yawned lightly resting her head on the topmost pillow, and nodded.

"It's just the one ear," she murmured. "He's not messed up."

"S'not what I meant," Han said.

She nodded - she knew that. He was quiet for a moment, and then he lifted his hand.

"Look," he said gruffly, moving his fingers deliberately, waving them over Max's cradle even though he was asleep. Leia watched patiently, tracking the movements of his fingers with her eyes, and then slowly lifted her gaze, waiting for his explanation. "Max," he grunted, doing it again. Signs, she realized, as he slowed down even more. "M-A-X. Looked it up. Intergalactic Sign."

Leia smiled at him, her eyes stinging. She bit her lip, and tucked her face into the pillow. Han laughed at her softly, and then bent over the crib, stretching to kiss the side of her hidden face.

"Sorry," he apologized lazily, sounding the exact opposite. "Always forget 'bout those intense hormones," he trailed off, then removed his shirt, and strolled over to his side of the bed, climbing in with her.

He jostled Zozy, who gave him a deeply offended look, and then sulked over towards Leia's feet and curled up. He angled his head towards the cradle, cocked one ear up, and lay his head down on his paws, giving a protective chirp. Leia smiled at him and wriggled her toes to scratch his stomach as she shifted to face Han, both of them half-propped up on the pillows.

"Show me," she said, and Han took her hand, and carefully taught her how to spell out Max in those precise signs.

Leia repeated the process several times.

"One more language for 'em," Han noted, arching a brow.

"Oh, Jaina will love learning it," Leia said fondly. "And Noura's so young, she'll pick it up easily."

"Noura's busy teachin' me Alderaanian," Han snorted.

Leia smirked. Noura still didn't talk very much, but most of her limited vocabulary accomplishments of late _had_ been in Leia's native tongue. He kept having to double check to make sure he knew what she was saying. There was no need for Han to worry, though - Jaina had picked up Basic first, and faster, but she spoke both with fluency now, and had a fairly decent grip on Corellian. If one counted the Corellian swear words Han kept letting slip around her.

Nothing classier than a four-year-old cheerfully yelling _"kriff!"_ at her grandfather.

Moving closer, Leia threaded her fingers into Han's, breathing in and out deeply. The quiet in the house was rare, but welcome; in perhaps a show of innate understanding, both Jaina and Noura had made themselves spectacularly easy to put to bed, and Max hadn't fussed at all, merely waking every once in a while to eat, and then return to sleep.

Han squeezed her hand, and kissed her forehead.

"How you feelin'?" he asked quietly.

Leia sighed.

"Well, I'll never be one to put it as bluntly as Winter did, but I am certainly sore," she said dryly, nodding down at her body.

Han gave her a curious look.

"What did Winter say?"

"I told you what Winter said."

"You did not!"

Leia gave him a skeptical look. He stared at her insistently, and she bit her lip, rolling her eyes. She leaned in closer.

"She said...it feels like, you know - "

"I _don't_ know."

"- your pussy has the galaxy's most intense migraine."

Han choked on his tongue laughing, trying to muffle it so he wouldn't wake the baby up. Then he sort of wince-grimaced, and shook his head, groaning softly.

"And that's an understatement," Leia hissed.

He winced again, and reached over to run his hand up and down her side, tracing the curve of her hip.

"What about the rest of you?" he murmured.

"My back is okay," Leia answered softly. "Breasts...could be better. I'm tired," she said simply. "Very tired."

"When he wakes up next, I can give him one of Noura's bottles," Han said - one immediate benefit to still having a nursing baby at home when they added a second one was that there was already a stock of bottles. "Let you sleep."

Leia shook her head.

"I'll just start leaking if he cries," she muttered - besides, for the first few days, she wanted him to nurse, _only _nurse. She wanted that closeness.

"Hmm, okay," Han agreed. "We're on the same page about the girls though, yeah? You don't worry about them for the next week or so, that's all me. Unless they need hugs or easy stuff."

Leia nodded gratefully.

"You take them to Father when _you_ need a break," she reminded him.

"Yeah, definitely, I dropped them off like an hour ago," Han joked, deadpan.

Leia rolled her eyes, and Han studied her for a moment. He cleared his throat, softening his voice again.

"How are you in here?" he asked, very lightly tapping her temple.

He remembered how distressed she had been when they first found out about Max. He wanted to make sure he paid close attention to her needs, physical and emotional, especially this time. He didn't want to start thinking that this was all so familiar to them that he didn't connect to her as well, and he missed any signs that she needed extra help. Leia was always a little hyper-worried that she would be prone to a bout of postpartum depression, though it had not yet troubled her.

Leia turned her nose up and blew a kiss at his hand, smiling serenely.

"Oh, I'm good," she assured him softly. "Really good, Han."

She nodded, entwining her arm with his and pressing his palm to her lips.

"I think this is right. This works for us," she murmured. "He's so sweet. And now that it's all said and done...he's right where he's supposed to be. What was the point of waiting, really? This way we're still in practice, we're still in the thick of things. We waited _too_ long between Jaina and Noura," she said confidently. She stretched, yawned. She shrugged. "It may as well be this way."

Han grinned. He nudged her wrist with his nose and sighed, content. They lay in silence for a moment, and then he shifted again, lifting up his head to study her intently.

"And you're sure you won't want another one?" he asked.

She peered at him through her lashes.

"I believe the time to reopen that discussion was before they cauterized my reproductive organs," she said dryly.

Han snorted quietly.

"I know," he said. "'M not tryin' to reopen it. I think three's good. S'just, y'know, weird to think...we'll never have a baby _this_ little again," he said, nodding at the cradle. "And then tomorrow, we're never gonna have a baby that's only five days old ever again. And when he's two, we'll never have a two-year-old again - "

Leia slid her hand over his mouth, one eyebrow cocked.

"Hush," she soothed softly. "It's the exact definition of bittersweet," she whispered, nodding, agreeing with everything he'd just said. "And the sweet part is, we'll raise them, and we'll watch all three of them grow, and change, and be three different, fascinating individuals of their own, and one day they'll have their own lives, and then," she trailed off, promise in her voice. "We'll have just _us_ again. But we'll have them, too."

Han nodded. He rested his head next to her, settling down, draping an arm loosely over her. There was always one tiny part of him, in the very back of his mind - smaller and smaller, as time went on - that regarded how his life had turned out with unfathomable disbelief. Han Solo - _that_ Han Solo - now a man with a legitimate life, a crusader for democracy, the primary caretaker for three children who all looked so much like him in their own unique way? He took a moment to relish it, and he held Leia gently, mindful of her sore muscles, but eager to have her close.

Leia was on the verge of sleep the moment she closed her eyes, reaching towards the shallow, necessary instant nap that new mothers were so proficient at, and she wasn't sure if she'd been a sleep for two minutes or two hours, or even if she'd fallen asleep at all, when Max let out a sudden, sharp cry from the cradle next to her, and immediately following that, Noura shrieked angrily over the baby monitor.

And of course, not to be outdone, as Leia was sitting up, she heard an indignant voice wail down the hall:

"Daddy, make them stop! Night is QUIET time!"

At that moment, Leia was equally capable of laughing and bursting into tears, and for her own sake she chose to laugh. She snuggled Max into the crook of her arm and watched patiently as Han dragged himself out of bed and went strolling leisurely down the all to deal with the girls - this was it; this was what it was like to have three children, and this was their family, now and forever - _complete._

* * *

_alexandra_

_story #394_

_(er...this is labelled 394 because I accidentally labelled "Triggers" as 395 - oops). _


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